Noteful vs Wellnote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Noteful
This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.
- Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
- PDF and document annotation
- Organize notes with tags
- Layers for annotations
- Audio recording synced with notes
- Import PDFs and MS Office documents
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Noteful is your one-stop note-taking app to experience the new paperless revolution on iPad. Perfect for annotating documents, taking class notes or even building your personal knowledge system. It is time to put aside the paper clutter, as Noteful is a versatile tool that helps you to accelerate your learning and knowledge work. Take Beautiful Handwritten Notes • Natural, fluid and precise handwriting experience • Precise handwriting on iPad with Apple Pencil native support • Custom-built ink engine InfiniteStroke that captures and converts your strokes into high-resolution vector ink • 3 brushes available: ballpoint pen, fountain pen and highlighter • Switch between pen sizes and colours • Recognise geometrical shapes Markup, Highlight, Annotate • Import PDFs, MS Office documents to a notebook • Add images, shapes and typed text to notes • Use multiple paper templates in a single notebook • Export and share handwritten annotations as PDF • Use Quick Create to create a new notebook for quick sketching Powerful Tagging • Organise quickly by tagging with #tag or even #nested/tag anywhere in notebooks • More flexible than folders; Notes can be organised by subjects, by topics or by priorities • Browse notebooks or pages by tags • Rename, delete or re-assign tags to easily re-organise your library Layers in Notebook • Add annotation on separate layers without changing original content* • Hide or show layers independently • Rearrange layers • Make it possible to composite complex layout* All Your Notes, All the Time • Sync to all your iPhone and iPad devices* • Take textbooks, slides, handwritten notes and PDF documents with you wherever you go • Notebooks synced with iCloud are encrypted via account-based keys Powerful Editing • Erase strokes with eraser • Double tap on Apple Pencil to switch to eraser tool • Move and resize annotations with lasso tool • Unlimited undo, redo • Support Split View for multitasking Audio Record Notes • Record audio while you take notes • Audio playback position synced with the notes Modern App Design • A minimalist UI that maximizes content space • Streamlined design that requires fewer taps for common functions • Different orientations are available for the main toolbar • A clean UI that lets you focus on note-taking and the content We will be adding new features so please stay tuned for future updates. — Noteful is free to use without time limit but with certain features (marked with*) only available to users who upgrade to Noteful Pro via In-app purchase. Noteful Pro is available for one-time purchase and the features will be unlocked forever. — If you have support questions or product suggestions, please contact us by support. Wishing you happy note-taking! Customer Support: support@getnoteful.com Privacy Policy: https://www.getnoteful.com/privacy
Wellnote
Experience natural handwriting with a stylus for note-taking and document annotation. Organize your thoughts with categorization and search, and study more effectively using split-screen and custom templates. Import and mark up PDFs, Word, and PPT files for interactive learning.
- Real handwriting experience with stylus
- Categorize and search notes
- Import and annotate PDFs, Word, PPT
- Split-screen for multitasking
- Customizable templates
- Masking tape feature for memorization
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Real Writing Experience -- Combined with a stylus pen, you can feel the real touch of writing on the iPad, achieving a natural writing sensation. -- Wellnote provides a smooth writing experience, accurately capturing your handwriting whether you're jotting down notes quickly or making detailed records. Categorize Notes -- The categorization feature allows you to organize your notes by project, course, or topic, keeping your notes tidy and orderly. -- With the search function, you can easily find the notes you need. -- The writing effects that used to require a stack of paper can now be easily achieved on the iPad. Import Documents for Annotation -- Log in to Baidu Cloud, and files in the cloud (PPT, Word, PDF) can be downloaded and imported at any time. -- Annotate, mark, and highlight directly on PDF files or by importing PPTs and Word documents as PDFs, making learning more interactive and vivid. -- Combining text and notes helps you better understand and remember the content of your studies. Study More Efficiently -- The split-screen feature allows you to view different books, materials, or apps simultaneously, efficiently taking notes. -- Using the split-screen feature in class allows you to record key points in real-time while viewing class materials, ensuring you don't miss any important information. -- The masking tape feature can cover and reveal content, allowing you to study and memorize more efficiently. Customize Templates -- Based on your personal learning and working style, custom templates let you create note formats that meet your needs. -- With preset templates, you can not only improve the efficiency of organizing notes but also study and review more effectively. Explanation of Automatic Subscription Service (1) Subscription Services: AI+VIP Continuous Monthly Subscription (1 month), AI+VIP Continuous Annual Subscription (12 months) (2) Subscription Price: For example, AI+VIP continuous monthly subscription (1 month) is US$1.99 per month, and the continuous annual subscription product is US$10.99/year. The specific price will be adjusted according to promotional activities during different periods, subject to the actual display within the application. (3) Payment: After the user confirms the purchase and makes the payment, it will be credited to the iTunes account. (4) Auto-renewal: The Apple iTunes account will be charged within 24 hours before expiration, and upon successful payment, the subscription period will be extended by one subscription cycle. (5) Cancel Service: You can go to "Settings" on your iPhone --> enter "iTunes Store & App Store" --> tap "Apple ID" and select "View Apple ID", enter the "Account Settings" page, tap "Subscriptions" to manage auto-renewal subscriptions. If you need to cancel, simply turn it off 24 hours before the end of each billing cycle, and no further charges will be incurred within 24 hours before expiration. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: https://wellnote.meatmeet.top/app/privacy/index.html?language=en End User Licensing Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ If you have any questions, you can contact us via email for assistance: wellnote@maxeye.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Wellnote at free against Noteful's freemium. Wellnote also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). Noteful's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 914) and review sentiment (87% vs 77%). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Wellnote sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Noteful against 4.7 for Wellnote. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteful has 24K ratings behind it against 914, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 77% of Wellnote's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Noteful | Wellnote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (24K ratings) — better | 4.7 (914 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 87.1% of reviews — better | 77.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 24K — better | 914 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 157 MB | 445 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Noteful Technologies Ltd | MAXEYE US INC. |
Customer experience
Noteful
Wellnote
Bugs and requests
Noteful
Reported bugs
3 issues- Syncing issues across devices
- Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
- Eraser tool not functioning as expected
Requested features
6 requests- Handwriting recognition and search
- More text editing options (bullet lists, etc.)
- Improved PDF handling and annotations
- Custom templates and sticker support
- Expanded cloud storage options (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)
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- Customizable pen pressure and smoothing
Wellnote
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Noteful
- Noteful Pro, Lifetime$6.99
Wellnote
- AI+VIP$1.991 Month
- AI+VIP$10.991 Year
- AI Pro VIP$99.991 Year
- AI Credits$9.99








